New Delhi: The seat-sharing deal between Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress is almost certain in Jharkhand, sources said. The two parties as well the other allies are drawing close to a pact ahead of the state assembly polls. The Election Commission announced the dates of the Jharkhand assembly polls on Tuesday. The elections will be held in the state in two phases on November 13 and November 20. The results will be out on November 23.
Sources said it has been decided that Congress will contest on 29 seats, while JMM is eyeing 43, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) 5 and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) will fight 4 seats.
Under the seat-sharing formula, JMM may give its three seats to the communist party. Last time, the JMM had contested elections on 43 seats, however, after the swap of seats, it will contest only 43 seats, sources added.
In the previous polls, the Congress had contested the elections on 31 seats but this time, it may contest on two less seats. Whereas last time, the RJD had contested elections on 7 seats. But this time, it is likely to get 5 seats in the alliance. This time the new ally in the alliance is the communist party.
So, the Jharkhand assembly election is turning out to be a direct contest between the JMM-led INDIA bloc and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said the JMM-led alliance will contest all 81 seats in the assembly elections.
The past polls results
In 2019, the JMM, Congress and RJD formed a pre-poll alliance, known as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), and defeated the BJP-led NDA government headed by Raghubar Das. The alliance bagged a majority of 47 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly.
After the polls, the BJP had severed ties with ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) but the two contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and secured nine seats in the state. The saffron party bagged eight out of the nine. In the Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA bloc won five of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP’s co-in-charge for Jharkhand elections, on Monday said that talks with AJSU have been finalised. The AJSU is likely to contest on around 10 seats. Soren added that irrespective of individual party candidates, the alliance would contest all 81 seats.
